Fifth-grade students enjoy a holiday meal at the Lake Placid Elementary School on Dec. 14. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

LAKE PLACID — Tablecloths, placemats, glittery dresses and neckties would typically seem out of place in an elementary school cafeteria. But, each December, Lake Placid Elementary School students are treated to a five-star holiday dining experience in the middle of their school day where they dress up, sit down with their teachers and are served a traditional festive meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce and gravy.

The lunch has been a tradition longer than current staff members can recall — the consensus was more than 40 years.

“As long as any of us can remember,” said LPES Principal Sonja Franklin at the lunch on Dec. 14.

Franklin said that the tradition is not just a chance to give the kids a treat — it’s also a community-building and learning opportunity.

“I think its a way for us to get together as an LPES family — not just teacher-student but it’s more family-centered,” she said. “With us sitting down and having meals with them, it allows the kids that opportunity to see people in a different way and they get to dress up. We also get to work on table manners and what it’s like to be in a restaurant. Not all the kids get that experience (at home).”

From left, Debbie Stanton, June Manning, Leslie Volarte, Amy Beaney and Mary Jane Colby pose with their grandchildren, who all attend Lake Placid Elementary School. The grandmothers volunteered to help out with the school’s Christmas dinner on Dec. 14 as a festive surprise for their grandchildren. (News photo — Sydney Emerson)

Jon Fremante, fifth grade social studies teacher, wore a suit and tie and joined his students for the meal, visiting different tables throughout lunchtime and joining them in conversation — one table of fifth grade students even cheered when he sat down with them. He said that the change in surroundings and pace is good for the students.

“It’s a unique opportunity for the kids to sit in a different environment and just enjoy each other’s company, along with the life skills,” he said. “It’s more just seeing the holiday in a different way, where it’s family. It’s kind of like when you sit together as a family and eat dinner, it’s not just a bunch of kids at school.”

“It’s not presents, it’s presence,” added Franklin.

The students agreed that togetherness was the best part of the holiday lunch.

“The thing I like is it’s like a family, and it’s like you’re celebrating with your family, but it’s your school family,” said fifth grade student Tatum W.

Tatum was sitting with her two friends, Lillie S. and Lauren S., who both enjoyed the time they got to spend together at lunch — though they had opinions about the menu.

“This looks like Thanksgiving,” Lillie said, gesturing at the turkey and cranberry sauce. Later, she started jokingly wishing her friends a happy Thanksgiving before the trio dissolved into giggles.

The girls each had different favorite parts of celebrating the holidays at school. For Lillie, it was making Christmas cards to hand out to her friends. Lauren said that she made candy cane holders this year to give to classmates as presents. Tatum said that she looked forward to “celebrating with friends.”

The meal was orchestrated by the school cafeteria staff and a squadron of volunteer servers.

“Parents and grandparents volunteer to be our severs through the Friends Group, which is our parent organization,” Franklin said. “So, they sign up through them and they work as the servers. Instead of the kids going through the line, they get a little fancy, they get served their dinners and they get special treats like cookies and things we don’t normally have.”

A group of grandmothers — Mary Jane Colby, Leslie Volante, June Manning, Debbie Stanton and Amy Beaney — helped serve lunch. Wearing Christmas headbands, they patrolled with pitchers of gravy and trays of cookies, making sure that the kids’ plates and bellies were full. It was a surprise to their grandchildren, who were not expecting to see their grandmas hanging around their school in the middle of the day.

“We kind of hatched a plan at a lacrosse game. We kept it a secret to surprise the kids,” Colby said. “They were surprised!”

Just before returning to class, the grandchildren in question came over one by one to give their grandmothers hugs, thanking them for coming. On the other side of the cafeteria, Tatum, Lillie and Lauren joked together and prepared for the rest of their classwork. On days like this, real family and school family are one and the same.